


A Story Rewritten

by aceklaviergavin



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Acceptance, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Growing Up, Inktober, Light Angst, M/M, Moving On, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 09:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12528132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceklaviergavin/pseuds/aceklaviergavin
Summary: We grow, we change, we lose things that we'll never have again.We accept it.“We’re probably never going to live in the same city again,” Yuuri murmured quietly.Phichit’s smile faded slowly, like the last rays of sunlight giving way to night. “I know.”





	A Story Rewritten

**Author's Note:**

> Day 25: Friend
> 
> pretend this was posted a couple days ago.
> 
> cross-posted on [tumblr](https://aceyuurikatsuki.tumblr.com/post/166866071288/a-story-rewritten-yuri-on-ice-anime)

Viktor lounged in his and Yuuri’s hotel room after an eventful Four Continents. He scrolled through Instagram on his phone while he waited for Yuuri to finish showering the day’s competition away. Yuuri stepped out of the bathroom, steam billowing out behind him. He ran a towel through his drying hair, phone in one hand to check Phichit’s most recent text.

“Is it okay if I go see Phichit-kun tonight?” Yuuri asked.

Viktor looked up from his phone, blinking in confusion. “Of course.”

Yuuri bit the inside of his cheek nervously. “I might... spend the night with him?”

Viktor’s eyes softened, and he sat up to regard Yuuri seriously. “That’s perfectly fine.” He held out his hands for Yuuri to take. “I know you miss him.”

Yuuri smiled squeezing Viktor’s hands gently. “Are you sure?”

Viktor wasn’t familiar with any of the skaters at 4CC. Except JJ, but that was a completely different story. Without Yuuri, Viktor would likely spend the night alone.

Viktor sighed dramatically. “I’m sure. I think I can entertain myself for one night.”

Yuuri laughed quietly and leaned down to peck Viktor on the lips. “Thank you.”

He dropped Viktor’s hands and grabbed his backpack from the floor. He waved his phone at Viktor. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

Viktor blew Yuuri a kiss. “Of course, darling.” Yuuri made a show of catching it before slipping out the door.

Yuuri padded down the hallway to the room number Phichit had sent him. Most of the skaters were in the same block, making it a short trek between rooms. It soothed Yuuri’s nerves, if Viktor had an emergency and needed him, Yuuri wouldn’t be very far away. Phichit had left the latch on, keeping the door open for Yuuri. Yuuri knocked politely anyway.

“Come in!” Phichit called with a laugh.

Yuuri threw the door open. Phichit was already on the bed, reclined against the pillows, and scrolling through Instagram on his phone. Yuuri practically tackled Phichit to the bed, snuggling into Phichit’s belly with practiced ease.

They both bounced on the bed, springs creaking with effort. Phichit grunted, the air knocked out of him with Yuuri’s enthusiasm.

“It’s nice to see you, too!” Phichit laughed, hand automatically coming down to brush through Yuuri’s hair.

Yuuri settled into the familiar embrace with ease. Yuuri remembered quiet afternoons snuggled into Phichit’s stomach, sunlight filtering through the blinds, as the hours ticked by. These few hours of warmth and comfort were a blessing to a younger Yuuri, whose nerves were constantly pulled taught by anxiety.

“Where’s the fiancé?” Phichit teased.

Yuuri shrugged. “If I had to guess, probably bothering Chris.”

“You know, you’re probably going to have to fetch him from a back-alley dumpster in the morning.”

Yuuri grunted. “Viktor was fine for years without me.”

“Viktor also had Yakov,” Phichit pointed out.

That gave Yuuri pause. “Fair point.” He shrugged, and curled further into Phichit’s arms. “That sounds like future Yuuri’s problem.”

Phichit laughed under his breath, but welcomed Yuuri into his arms all the same. Yuuri let the familiar rise and fall of Phichit’s chest soothe him, unconsciously synchronizing his breathing with Phichit’s. Phichit smelled like hotel soap, but still radiated warmth like there was a drop of sunshine in his chest.

It was so, _so_ familiar.

For a long time, it seemed Phichit was the only one who could soothe those nerves, and brush away Yuuri’s daily struggles with the sweep of his hand. Phichit’s warm skin, draped in soft cotton, was always there to welcome Yuuri home.

In Phichit’s arms, Yuuri was suddenly twenty-one all over again. Yuuri sighed into Phichit’s skin, long, brown fingers tracing circles over Yuuri’s back.

“This is nice,” Yuuri murmured sleepily.

Phichit hummed his agreement, setting his phone off to the side to wrap his free arm around Yuuri’s shoulders. “Yeah, it’s just like being back in Detroit.”

Yuuri nodded. Something ached deep in his chest, a seed that had been planted when he left Detroit, but was just now beginning to bloom.

“I miss you,” Yuuri murmured, soft as a sigh.

Phichit smiled knowingly. “I miss you, too.”

Truth be told, Phichit had missed Yuuri from the moment he started packing his bags for Japan. He’d found so much happiness in Detroit with Yuuri, even amidst the stress of skating and the weight of Thailand’s hopes on his shoulders. It was easy to forget that it was temporary.

Yuuri’s head rested on Phichit’s chest, staring blankly into the distance. In Japan, it had been so easy to slip back into his old routine from when he was a teen. Even with Viktor there, Japan held his mother’s warmth and the familiarity of a culture Yuuri knew inside and out. It was easy to forget there was a piece missing.

But in Russia, Yuuri was once again thrust into a culture he didn’t know, in a place where he didn’t know the language. Last time he’d been in that situation, he’d had Phichit by his side. Trying to brave a new country without Phichit felt like having an arm missing.

“Russia’s strange without you,” Yuuri murmured.

Phichit hummed curiously, playing with the hair at the back of Yuuri’s neck.

“I love Viktor, and he’s been wonderful,” Yuuri assured.

And he had. Viktor took care to introduce Yuuri to their new rinkmates. He saved their address and the rink to Yuuri’s GPS, so that Yuuri would always be able to find either location if he got lost. He even hassled the rink manager until they gave Yuuri a key, so they could get in after hours.

Viktor was doing his best.

“But he isn’t you,” Yuuri sighed. “I love Viktor, and I want to spend my life with him, and I don’t regret moving to Russia or anything—”

“I know,” Phichit said, cutting off Yuuri’s anxious rambling. “I don’t regret moving back to Thailand either, but I still miss you,” he empathized.

Yuuri sighed, arms winding around Phichit’s chest and holding him close. “Sometimes I feel like I’m back in Detroit, and when I get home, I’m surprised when you’re not there.”

Phichit rested his chin atop Yuuri’s head. “That’s why I left Detroit, remember?” Phichit chuckles to himself. “At my place in Thailand, one time I walked in yelling about a dog I saw on the way home and my roommates were like, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

Yuuri huffed a laugh into Phichit’s chest. At the time, he’d been so embroiled in his own disappointment, he hadn’t spared a thought for what Phichit would go through. It hadn’t been his concern, when his career was on its last legs. What would have happened if Yuuri had stayed in Detroit? If he’d given skating another shot before packing up for Japan?

“I’m sorry for leaving,” Yuuri sniffled.

“What are you talking about?” Phichit asked. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He rubbed Yuuri’s back gently. “Besides, if you hadn’t left then Viktor would have shown up naked at our front door.”

Yuuri’s face flushed and he simultaneously giggled uncontrollably into Phichit’s chest. “Viktor would.”

Yuuri continued giggling, until he was gasping for breath. He buried his face in Phichit’s shirt, knees curling up under him. Phichit couldn’t help but laugh with him, holding tight to Yuuri as they curled into each other, falling onto their sides.

Their laughs petered out, until they laid together, breathing heavily in time. They were face-to-face now, smiling brightly, and arms clasped around each other. Yuuri’s whole demeanor brightened, all the tension and weight he’d started carrying after moving to Russia sliding off him like ice melting in the summer sun.

Yuuri missed this. He missed after practice cuddles with Phichit, two AM Taco Bell runs, even petty fights over chores. He missed Phichit, and everything that entailed.

It hurt to think he would never have that again.

“We’re probably never going to live in the same city again,” Yuuri murmured quietly.

Phichit’s smile faded slowly, like the last rays of sunlight giving way to night. “I know.”

Phichit loved Thailand. He’d spent so many days yearning for his homeland, its warmth and its culture, and had fantastic dreams of showing his love for skating to his whole country. Now that Phichit was there again, Yuuri doubted he would ever leave.

“I don’t know where Viktor and I are going to end up, but probably in Japan or Russia,” Yuuri said.

Phichit nodded. “And I’m going to live in Thailand.”

It was only confirming what Yuuri already thought. But the words were still a stone in his gut.

“I’ll still visit,” Phichit promised.

Yuuri ducked his face into Phichit’s chest. “That’s not enough,” he said weakly.

Yuuri was selfish. He didn’t want visits. He didn’t want Phichit for a few days, or weeks, or even months. He wanted Phichit every day, for the rest of his life.

Phichit rubbed Yuuri’s shoulder. “It’s not enough for me, either,” he sighed.

Yuuri’s hands fisted in Phichit’s shirt. It _wasn’t fair_ that Yuuri couldn’t have Phichit, and Viktor, and his family. If only Phichit was from Japan, or Yuuri was born in Thailand, or if they were born anywhere else in the world, as long as they were together.

“I wish I didn’t have to choose,” Yuuri murmured. “I love you so much.”

Phichit pressed his forehead against Yuuri’s. “I love you, too,” he said with soft eyes.

He stroked Yuuri’s cheeks, and stared into his best friend’s eyes. Phichit wouldn’t be the person he was today without Yuuri. Yuuri had taught him about skating, about friendship, and about life. Yuuri was an integral part of Phichit, woven into his soul like golden thread. Yuuri had smiled at the hyper teenager with poor English, who all their other rinkmates looked over. Yuuri had listened to Phichit’s dreams larger than himself, and had shared his own in kind. Yuuri was a treasure, and Phichit wouldn’t be here without him.

“But... some things are more important.” Phichit brushed Yuuri’s hair from his eyes. “You have Viktor, your family, and whatever skating monsters you and Viktor have together.” Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh at that. “And I have my country.”

Yuuri nodded, not meeting Phichit’s eyes. “I wouldn’t even _have_ Viktor if it weren’t for you. There’s no way I would have been able to keep skating if you weren’t there.” Phichit had helped him through more crises than Yuuri would have been able to withstand alone. “I wouldn’t have ever met him.”

“I feel the same,” Phichit said. “I couldn’t have stayed so far from home without you.”

“Just... thank you,” Yuuri sniffed. He closed his eyes, breathing deep. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

“You’ll still have me,” Phichit promised.

“It won’t be the same.”

“No.” Phichit’s throat was strangely tight. “It probably won’t ever be. But you have so many more awesome things ahead of you, too.”

Yuuri smiled longingly, grasping Phichit’s hands. “I wish that didn’t mean leaving you behind.”

“You’re not!” Phichit laughed. “I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”

Yuuri laughed as well, and Phichit was grateful to hear it. “Good.”

A moment passed, where Phichit and Yuuri just shared a quiet smile.

“I’m excited for the life Viktor and I are going to have together,” Yuuri said quietly. “But I’ll still miss the one we had.”

“Same.” Phichit squeezed Yuuri’s hands gently. “I’m glad we got to have it, though.”

For a moment, Yuuri imagined a world where he’d never met Phichit. It was filled with lonely days at the rink, and nights spent shaking out of his skin. It was cold and somber; it was a world Yuuri never wanted to be a part of.

“You’re my best friend,” Yuuri said.

Those words hardly even began to describe everything Phichit meant to Yuuri. Phichit was his lifeline, his soulmate, the person that believed in him years before he learned to believe in himself.

Phichit’s face broke into a wide grin. “That’s funny, because you’re mine.” Phichit’s face softened, and he leaned in close. “I’ll always be here for you.”

Yuuri nodded. They would always have each other, no matter how far apart they were or how many countries stood in the way. Until his last breath, Phichit would be there for him.

“I’m so glad you’re in my life.” Yuuri pulled Phichit close.

Phichit accepted Yuuri into his arms as he always did, and always would.

**Author's Note:**

> So in March I accepted a job all the way across the country so that I could meet two awesome people from the internet.
> 
> They were the highlight of my summer, and I love them dearly.
> 
> My job ended in September, and I moved back home.
> 
> I don't know if I'll ever be able to live near them again. I hope so. They don't know where their lives are headed, or where the next few years will take them, and neither do I. There are things I'd be giving up either way.
> 
> But I'm grateful for the time I had, and I hope that one day I can have more.


End file.
